Pembroke Academy Shooting Threat Leads To Police Actions In Mass.

PEMBROKE, NH — An unfounded shooting threat on a bathroom wall in one state led to potential high school safety issues and investigations in two states.

On Wednesday morning, students at the Rundlett Middle School shared a post on Snapchat with officials that indicated an “act of violence,” specifically, a school shooting, would take place on Thursday, according to Paulette Fitzgerald, the principal of the school. Rundlett was not mentioned in the post, she said, but the threat was taken seriously. After an investigation by Concord police, it was learned the post was referring to another school in New Hampshire.

“The post had been made about another school in our state,” Fitzgerald told parents by email yesterday. “The police in that town, along with their school administrators, were able to determine that there was no credible threat in that town, as well.”

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Patty Sherman, a co-superintendent for SAU 53, Pembroke's school district, confirmed the threat was graffiti written on the wall of a bathroom stall that indicated a threat to the school community” at Pembroke Academy.

“The administration acted swiftly and conducted an investigation in conjunction with the police department and was able to determine that the threat was not credible,” she said.

Sherman did not offer comment on the investigation into the origins of the graffiti or who was responsible.

At post time, Dwayne Gilman, the chief of police in Pembroke, had also not returned an email seeking comment.

The threat, however, made its way to Massachusetts, where at least four high schools — Haverhill, Lawrence, Peabody, and Waltham, all reported threats and began investigations.

Peabody Superintendent of Schools Josh Vadala said Thursday the threat to its high school “made no reference to the city of Peabody or to any of the Peabody Public Schools." After an investigation by police, “we were able to quickly determine that this was not a credible threat.” Vadala said the source of the school threat was out of New Hampshire. Patch learned later, the threat originated in Pembroke.

Officials at the four Massachusetts high schools increased police presence in the wake of the Snapchat threat, “out of an abundance of caution,” noted Waltham School Superintendent Brian Reagan.

Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera also increased police presence at that city’s high school, too, according to a post on Facebook.

School threats in New Hampshire and around the country are nothing new but were recurring situations at Pembroke Academy in 2015 and 2017. The police, with school officials, worked on drills and increased safety procedures in the wake of bomb and other threats and actions at the school.

A Snapchat threat was also posted at Concord High School in 2018 while Rundlett has also had threat incidents in the past, including one in May.

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